Bijan Taheri has been appointed as assistant of Esteghlal German coach Winfried Schafer.

The 56-year-old coach started his coaching career at Paykan and has worked at Mes Kerman, Saba Battery, Sepahan, Saipa and most recently Gostaresh Foolad as assistant coach.

During a technical commission session on Sunday, the former Esteghlal midfielder was named Schafer’s assistant.

Schafer was appointed as the new head coach of Iranian professional football club Esteghlal Tehran, which plays in the highest level of the Iranian football league division – the Persian Gulf Pro League.

Schafer started his coaching career with German association football club Borussia Mönchengladbach II in 1982.

He then signed with Karlsruher SC, and led the team to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup in the 1993–94 season.

The German coach has also worked at VfB Stuttgart, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Cameroon, the UAE’s Al Ahli, Al Ain, FK Baku, Thailand and Jamaica.